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My Faith Journey

I’ve been wanting to somehow incorporate my faith into this blog for a long time now. I touch on it here and there and I occasionally throw a few verses on Twitter now and again, but I want to go more in depth. So I thought: Why not add a section to my blog dedicated entirely to my faith? There’s so much I want to discuss and talk about and offer advice on, but I figured I should start with a little backstory on my journey through faith. So that’s exactly what this is!

I was raised in a Christian home. God was mentioned. There was a cross on the wall. We went to church on the big days (Christmas, Easter, etc). I attended a religious school. But growing up, I never felt a true connection to God and faith. It was always there, but it wasn’t really there.

When I went off to college, that’s when my faith really started to slip. And no, it wasn’t because of college life, parties, boys, staying up late, and faith not being the “cool” thing. That wasn’t it at all. During college, I went through some of the toughest times of my life. I lost a friend in a drunk driving accident, another drowned in a lake, another committed suicide, my grandfather was killed by a speeding driver, my stepmother lost her battle to cancer, and my uncle lost his battle to cancer, and I was also sexually assaulted toward the end of college.

All of this left me questioning where God was and why He would allow these things to happen. I fell out of my faith. I didn’t completely stop believing, but I just fell away from it all for a while.

It wasn’t until I moved to China a few months after graduation, that I cracked open my bible again. I was homesick and feeling extremely lost living in a foreign country, that I felt all that could help me was scripture. So I started daily devotionals, and they brought me peace, but still I didn’t feel that connection to Him.

When I met my last boyfriend, God was everywhere. We met because of a bible scripture. When we were long distance, we prayed together every night. I got a job with a lady who went to their church. I started going to church again and really getting involved with volunteering and I joined a bible study group. I even had a bible study group at work, and we met at lunch to go through bible studies together. And there were just so many other incredible things that had God’s name written all over it, but basically I actually felt God.

Through this, I felt His presence. I felt a strong connection with Him. I finally felt like I developed a strong, real relationship with my faith. And now, I read the Bible every day. I do devotionals and bible study plans every day, I read my Christian bloggers, and I talk with friends about faith.

Right now, I’m at such a great place with my faith and I owe it all to the hardships I faced. I think sometimes, it takes getting to a really low point to realize the only way to go is up. I was at one of the lowest points of my life and after straying away from my faith, I was pulled back to it in a completely unexpected way that can only be explained by God.

One of the things I love so much about religion is that faith aspect: Believing in something without even seeing it. Because if you can believe in that, anything is possible, and so far that’s proven to be true for me and my journey.

I love my journey because it’s so uniquely mine, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me and my faith.

Are you religious? Have you ever strayed from your religion? I’d love to hear your stories of how you came to faith! ❤️

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22 thoughts on “My Faith Journey”

jedi dadsays:

It would be too long to recount, but there are some similarities in our story. I was studying abroad in Thailand in college when I started reading scripture again. I am sorry for your journey of grief and loss, but as you know, you wouldn’t be where you are without them. Thank you for sharing your journey.

What a small world! It’s cool to know we both reconnected with our faith while living abroad. And yes, you’re right and because of that, I’m thankful for the struggles because I’m happy where I am right now. 🙂

I would say I was raised in a religiously confused household ( my mother jumped from one Christian church to another, and my dad was not practicing at all). By God’s grace I was placed in an environment in college that led me to be saved, but even then I had no idea what it meant to follow Christ. I never read my bible nor went to church and I still had a very hardened heart. This led me to fall off. Fast forward a year and a half, I had just gotten out of a relationship that was ungodly with the help of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That experience really led me to cling to God because I was so lonely and desperate to understand Him. I surrendered everything to God, I sought to live righteously, I got water baptized, plugged myself in at church, and almost 2 years later, I am so glad God transformed my story. Glory be to the most high.

Thank you so much for sharing your story! Our stories are somewhat similar, and I’m happy that we’ve connected through our faith. I still really want to get water baptized, just to make that public declaration. I feel like it would be something really special to me.

I wish you all the best in continuing your journey with Christ, and I pray that He opens many more opportunities and connections for you! ❤️

While my parents were not regular church attendees, they believed that they should put me in Christian School. I later attended church by my choice after giving my life to Christ at school and surrendering to the call to ministry during my junior year of high school (after 2 years of wrestling with God). I have served Him over 20 years and am humbled to be used by Him for His glory.

Hi Matthew! Thank you for sharing your story with me! And, good for you for listening to your call to faith! I think it’s so intriguing to see how so many different people find their way to Christ. He truly is incredible!

Thank you for sharing your story. Details of mine would be so long here…but we also share some similarities! We must be brought low so we can grow UP into Christ, our head, and down into Christ as our roots. He is all! I’m linking to my actual testimony, so if you’re interested, you can read it!http://justswritehere.blogspot.com/2016/05/restored-to-claim.html

Hi Malinda! I love that: “We must be brought low so we can grow UP into Christ” It’s so true! And I’m still struggling to see that especially when I’m going through a difficult time. Thank you for sharing a link, I’m going to read it now! 🙂

It is too long to detail here, but we share some similarities! We must be brought low in order for God to grow us into Jesus, our head, and Jesus our roots. I love that! Even in the hard, he is faithful and sovereign! I’m leaving the link to my testimony (He has since continued growing it, but you will get the idea) if you are interested in reading it!http://justswritehere.blogspot.com/2016/05/restored-to-claim.html

You shared whole heartedly your journey. I think we all have a tiny lapse. But in the end we come back, because there is mire to life and the Divine aka God is the more too life.

I am not Christian, I believe in God and I am more spiritual. But, I live reading and learning from anyone who loves God and believes in him , because it help bring me closer and understand him more.

To end with.. in reading your post i am reminded of a statement my mum has in hindi at home it says: ” if you remember God, then He will remember you”. Of course God is always available, but it is I who forgets him nit the other way round, so it always starts with me.

First, thx for connecting with me on here thru my recent post! I gravitated to your Faith blog cuz it’s a favorite subject of mine, and I found that we have similar beginnings leading up to our walks with Jesus. Yayyyy! So Keep your Faith strong and keep bloggin’ about it! ❤
Kim